succumbo Latin · revision 32021

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81/79–52/50 BC, Catullus|origins=la cubō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [sʊkˈkʊm.boː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [sukˈkum.bo]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''succumbō''' (present infinitive succumbere, perfect active succubuī, supine succubitum); third conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''subc-''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|sub-|cumbō|t2=to lie down]], with the nasal present ⟨-cumbō⟩ of [[m|la|cubō|t=to lie]] that is also found in [[accumbō]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first examples are in Catullus, of a victim sinking under the two-edged blade, and in Lucretius, of stones that could not all sink equally.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Lewis & Short note that the literal sense, to sink down, is rare and not found in Cicero.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is used of sinking to the ground under a blow, of collapsing under a weight or under strain, as in Caesar, who urges his men not to give in to their labours, and of giving way to a physical force.^(OLD 2012) Of a woman it is to lie down with a man, as in Varro's account of girls allowed to lie with whom they wished before marriage, and Propertius uses it of a bull lowering its neck to the plough.^(OLD 2012) Figuratively it is to be defeated, as in Nepos' “Asia yielded to Europe”, to yield to persuasion, as in Ovid, and to submit to circumstances, as Cicero's “I give in to that charge of yours, Laterensis”.^(OLD 2012) Hyginus uses it of Callisto taking Juno's place in her husband's bed.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “fall down, be overcome, surrender, yield, submit”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of a sacrificial victim.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of stones sinking under a weight.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of yielding to a charge.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar of giving in to toil.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 100–24 BC – Nepos of Asia yielding to Europe.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 15th century – Borrowed into English as [[m|en|succumb]], partly through Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To sink down, [[m|en|collapse]], break down under a weight or strain.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a woman, to lie with a man; of an animal, to lower itself under a load.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # To be defeated, [[m|en|yield]], give in, [[m|en|submit]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To take a wife's place in a husband's bed.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cubo|alt=cubō]]

+ * [[en|succumb]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}